try align. it's the number one ge recommended probiotic that helps maintain digestive balance. ♪ stay in the groove with align. detroit's broke and now a judge has made bankrupty official but his decision is sending chills through unions and retirees because it sets a new precedent for cuts to worker pensions. we'll talk to the president of afsme. front page of "the daily news." the engineer of a deadly train crash said he was in a daze situation saying he went on an auto pilot kind of thing. was he liable or is this just a terrible accident? and republicans in the house held an entire hearing to check on the constitutionality of president obama's actions. and, yes, the word "impeachment"

came up. >> we've also talked about the "i" word, impeachment, which i don't think would get past the senate in the current climate. am i missing anything? >> good morning, i'm chris jansing. we begin this morning with what may be the most important sales job since president obama took office. he has set a defiant tone for a month-long pr offensive on obama care. >> my main message today is we're not going back and we're just getting started with the exchanges. just getting started with the marketplaces. so we're not going to walk away from it. if i've got to fight another three years to make sure this law works, then that's what i'll do. >> in a speech next hour, the president will connect the push for health care to the battle over income and equality and stop by a white house youth summit later this afternoon because getting young people to sign up is, of course, crucial for obama care's success. let me bring in our company. richard wolf is the vice president and executive editor of msnbc.com. hen rick hertzburg, senior

editor of "the new yorker." is this marketing campaign, pr push, whatever you want to call it, exactly what obama care needs or has this already been defined largely by the republicans and by the problems with the website? >> it's actually what health care reform has always needed, and the president has never really got his arms around. so if you look at the polling, it's easily distorted. people say all the time it's been really unpopular. in fact there's never been a clear majority on this question. through the years the numbers have stayed very fixed. people are really unsure what it represents. and if you frame it as obama care, people don't like obama's association with it. but if you frame it in terms of affordable care, the technical name of this law, they like it. they like all the elements of it. so there is a lot for the president and the administration to communicate here. they have not done a good job today and they have to get people to understand what they're trying to sign up for now. >> yeah, the republicans have

had a long standing communication strategy of their own which was just go after it, go after it, go after it. you see them holding up letters from their constituents whose policies have been cancelled. look, the president said the repeal is not going to happen and the republicans of complained, but they haven't done anything about it. they don't have a plan of their own. here's what tom cole said on "morning joe" in response to that this morning. >> we've been putting ideas on the table, but frankly the president hasn't put very many ideas on the table. this is his legislation, it's not worked well. i would expect the corrective to come largely from him, although we're happy to help where we can. >> so is he right, it's the president's legislation, he needs to fix it? >> well, he needs to make it happen first. i mean he doesn't need congress to make -- the people he's going after really now are young people which about age 26 and age 40 who are uninsured. if they sign up, the program is a success.

if they don't, it's not. and right now the administration will have only itself to blame if they can't get that cohort signed up to health insurance. and meanwhile, it's all noise between now and then. >> well, part of what the president wants to communicate is an economic imperative. we all know health care costs are out of control, but he sees everyone getting health care as a key to upward mobility for the middle class. that too many people who have either been buried by high medical costs or concerned about the fact that they don't have insurance. is this a good strategy, do you think, richard? is it something that will work, say, in 2014 or is it a little too hard to connect the dots? >> it's not at all hard to connect the dots. when they looked at the polling in 2008 about health care when the president was running for election the first time, it was clearly defined for voters or especially swing voters as an economic issue. this is not separate from pocketbook issues, this is right

on point. that's why given where we are at with a still struggling economy for many people, health care does fit into these pocketbook issues. when republicans talk about you've got your free choice of doctors, for most people there isn't an actual free choice, because the cost of going to any doctor, any hospital you want is prohibitive. those are those out of network costs that make it very, very difficult for anyone to support this free choice that supposedly is part of this system. so people understand that very well. what they don't understand is what the president is proposing and how these costs will come down if they take part in these exchanges or the coverage they get will be better through their employer. >> has the democratic side been outmaneuvered on this, outmarketed on this so far, rick? >> well, they labor under the disadvantage of having to actually get something done. they can't do their marketing strictly with words, they have got to do it with deeds too, as this rollout continues. and that's why it's been such a

rocky road for them. that and the fact that the biggest beneficiaries of obama care are the uninsured. and the uninsured are not a majority. and the republican strategy of stoking fear among people who actually have nothing to be afraid of occurs in a kind of a vacuum and it's working, but it's not necessarily sustainable. if this thing starts work -- if the program takes hold, then that strategy will fall apart. >> in the meantime there are other things that do need to get done and one of them actually kind of sort of happened yesterday, which was the house passing this bill to renew what is already a restriction on plastic guns, but not going the extra step that would deal with these 3-d guns and the question is what happens in the senate and can they reconcile this. and you do wonder, as we're sort of looking, richard, at the university of newtown, if this might be the only gun legislation he signs during his

presidency. >> it's stunning, honestly. i think people are going to look back at that anniversary and say a year and this is all we're talking about in terms of this issue. you know, whatever side of it you're on, and clearly the majority of americans are for stricter gun controls within certain limits here, you know, the fact that congress has only come up with a plastic gun vote to date is just astonishing. >> an extension of something that already exists and maybe not adding on to it to deal with modern technology. >> and it's congress -- it's not congress exactly, it's the republicans in congress. we keep talking about congress, we talk about gridlock. it's really a lot more narrow than that and a lot more effective. it's republicans who have represented a minority of voters but can gum up the works and stop action. >> thanks for coming in. we want to remind you that chris matthews will have an exclusive interview with president obama

tomorrow at 7:00 eastern on msnbc. checking the news feed this morning, the engineer at the controls of that metro-north train that derailed last weekend told police he zoned out just moments before the crash. four people were killed, more than 60 hurt. just two weeks earlier william rockefeller switched from working afternoons to the morning shift. he nodded off, caught himself but caught himself too late. they are cautioning people to be ready for the release of 911 calls from the newtown shooting. some of the victims' family members joined a state prosecutor fighting to keep the tapes from being made public, then days ago dropped the fight. seven calls from inside the school are expected to be released today. after reassuring japan that the u.s. shares its concerns over china's new air defense zone, vice president joe biden is in beijing today for

discussions with the chinese president. the air defense zone controls islands controlled by japan but claimed by china. the vice president's east asia trip was supposed to focus on trade and the economy, but this issue has taken center stage. the website had one million visitors on monday, but can obama care reach its goal of getting seven million people signed up by march? we're doing the math and getting wonky with ezra klein coming up. on the table by not choosing the right medicare d plan. no one could have left this much money here. 3w4r

3w4r57. republicans are not backing off on their appeals to repair obama care. at a white house event touting the fixes and the benefits of the affordable care act, president obama drew a line in the sand. >> i've always said i will work with anybody to implement and

improve this law effectively. you got good ideas? bring them to me. let's go. but we're not repealing it as long as i'm president. >> let's bring in senator pat toomey, republican from pennsylvania and a remember of the budget and finance committees. good to see you, senator. thanks for coming in. let me start with your reaction to what's going on with obama care, because the white house says they're making progress. monday alone a million unique views. the pages are loading faster, people are able to get on. how do you feel about it right now? >> well, there's no doubt there's been some progress. not enough that my wife could get on yesterday, as you know, all members of congress and our staffs are forced onto the obama care exchanges. my wife made a valiant effort and she's pretty capable person and couldn't get us signed up. i'm sure they will work out the problems with the website. the website isn't the big problem with obama care, it's the fundamental design of the plan. it's the premise of the plan. it's the mandates that they have

built into it. none of that is fixable. >> but you understand that is what congress voted for, that is what the supreme court affirmed. >> sure. >> and so onward? >> well, until we can change this. but there's nothing about a given piece of law that binds future congresses. i think it was badly flawed. when they jammed it through without a single republican vote, they got their way, but i think the american people are increasingly seeing just how unworkable this is. and so i certainly look forward to the day that we can repeal this and move in a different direction on health care. >> let's talk about the budget, if we can. december 13th deadline. you know that paul ryan and patty murray have been working on a framework. they're talking about something like a trillion dollars, which is more than paul ryan wanted, less than patty murray wanted, but also talking about new fees to raise revenue instead of tax hikes. from what you're hearing this general framework, could you support it? >> well, it depends. the trillion dollars you're talking about is higher than what the existing law is and i

would point out that speaking of existing law, we have one that specifies the level of discretionary spending. specifies that at $967 billion. so from my point of view if we're going to spend more than that, then we ought to find offsetting savings some where else, which i'm very much open to. i know our friends on the other side of the aisle want there to be revenue. we're not going to support tax increases. are there some categories of revenue that are of a different nature? >> such as? >> for instance, federal employees have very generous retirement plans. if we asked them to contribute a little bit more to their retirement plan, that gets scored as revenue but i think it's legitimate to see that as savings so it really depends on the composition of the package. >> do you think there will be a deal by the end of the year? >> i think chances are better than even. i wouldn't want to hazard in any more precision of that. >> we are also coming up on the one-year anniversary of newtown. congress failed to act on any

new gun laws, including expanded background checks, which is something that you fought for. i wonder what you say, what congress says to the families of those 26 children and staff who were killed at sandy hook elementary who have fought, frankly, so valiantly, come to congress, lobbied in the hallways and seen nothing getting done. >> yeah, i met with those families. it's unspeakable what they have been through, it's amazing the courage that they have demonstrated. and frankly i think many of them have been very, very reasonable about what they have asked for. background checks to me is not a violation of anybody's second amendment. >> and supported by 90% of the american people in polls. >> that could well be. i just think it's common sense. i'm a big believer in the second amendment personally, i'm a gun owner. i think the second amendment is important. but having a background check to make it harder for criminals who have no right to a firearm, the people who are dangerously mentally ill, to try to make it a little harder for those people to get firearms, that just makes

sense. >> so will you bring your bill back? >> that's harry reid's decision. i still support it and think it's the right thing to do. honestly i don't think we've got the votes to pass it in the senate. >> there has been some show of bipartisanship, you were one of ten republicans who voted for enda, which is the employment nondiscrimination act which makes it illegal to discriminate against people because of their sexual orientation. you crossed the aisle to work for gun control, another example. do you see any areas senate side, house side, where you think there can be some common ground and a coming together? >> i budget deal could get done. we've a statutory spending limit. it was boy partisan, signed into law boy president obama. we should get real close to that. if we spend more, we should find offsets elsewhere. we have a whole slew of provisions in the tax code that expire every year. as bad as our tax code is, we choose to make it worse by having all these temporary features. we ought to go through and say the constructive, helpful, pro

growth features should be made permanent. the rest should be gotten rid of. these are things that i think there should be broad bipartisan support for. >> senator pat toomey, thanks for coming. >> thanks for having me. inhuman, morally corrupt and nuts. one union president is fired up about what's going on in detroit. how detroit's bankruptcy could change retirement and pensions forever for union workers across the country. that's next. ♪ ♪ ♪

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every day we're working to and to keep our commitments. and we've made a big commitment to america.

bp supports nearly 250,000 jobs here. through all of our energy operations, we invest more in the u.s. than any other place in the world. in fact, we've invested over $55 billion here in the last five years - making bp america's largest energy investor. our commitment has never been stronger. obama care can't succeed without them, and that's why president obama is hosting a youth summit this afternoon. the administration says healthcare.gov is vastly improved, now working more than 90% of the time and able to support at least 800,000 users per day. on monday, as we've been reporting, the site had a million visitors. but even with these improvements, what are the chances the administration reaches its goal of seven million americans enrolled by the end of march? take a look at the math.

in october, 27,000 americans signed up on the federal exchange. in the month of november, 100,000 people. even if, let's say, they quadruple november's numbers in december, that's another 400,000 enrollments. so under that scenario, less than a million people will have enrolled in the first three months, leaving only three months left to get to the goal of seven million. i want to bring in "washington post" columnist and msnbc policy annual list ezra klein from whom we steal these kinds of numbers. ezra, good morning. >> good morning. >> what are the chances realistically healthcare.gov hits the seven million enrollment goal? >> seven million it won't. this gets into this deep numbers. seven million was the estimate that the congressional budget office made in may of where the health care obama care would be in year one. that estimate was done, obviously, before the website spent two months being broken. so there is what was underlying that estimate is over.

it's not going to happen. but back when -- in june and may when i spoke to the obama administration about how they thought about zubsuccess, they not use seven million number. they did not say getting seven million and one million was young and healthy. success was all about getting this right, getting the ratios right so the premiums would be low enough that over the first two or three years it would be a good deal and people would come in. so the important thing for the administration is not seven million versus five million versus nine million. it's how many of them are young and healthy. they need about 40% in order to keep premiums at the levels they want them. >> and to that point, there was a recent gallup poll. 37% of americans under 30 are the least familiar with the health care law. more than any other age group. and obviously we've talked about the fact the president is reaching out to young people today. he's going to be in a college audience with chris matthews tomorrow. how does he sell this?

>> i think the thing with chris matthews will fix it. for one thing they haven't started their real push yet because they haven't wanted to bring people to a website that fundamentally isn't working so they had all these plans. they're very sophisticated plans. they have done heat map modeling, it sounds a whole lot like the 2012 campaign. they know how to reach young people, they know what social media they tune into so they have a sophisticated plan but that plan is on hold because nobody can sign up. now that the website is beginning to work in a more reasonable way, that plan is going to get activated. the insurance industry is going to spend $500 million, maybe up to a billion trying to get people into the pools because these are all customers for them. we don't know if that will work. that's always been the great question here. before healthcare.gov was the question, young people was the question. between that and the individual mandate hitting in 2014, which is a percentage point of people's income, there are reasons to think that at the end

of the day young people will come in as they did in the massachusetts reform. >> the technical issue is what we have tried to simplistically call the back end, which is where insurers actually make sure that the people who sign up, that they have the information, that they actually are covered when they go to the doctor, they get their reimbursement. still tbd on how that's going to work? >> yeah, we're still tbd there. this is the ability for healthcare.gov to correctly transmit the information about you who just bought the plan to the insurer. they have been having a lot of errors in those transmissions. they have not been as quick about fixing that as they have about fixing the consumer experience. i have been hearing from insurers that it is looking better. the error rate is still too high but it is dropping. so i think that is again something that will be fixed but the question is how much disruption do you have and how many upset people do you have when people go to the doctor in

january and february and try to use their insurance. what percentage of them have actually a problem at that point. >> msnbc policy analyst ezra klein. thanks, ezra. remember to tune in tomorrow for chris matthews' interview with president obama as heart of the "hardball" college tour from american university. watch it at 7:00 p.m. right here on msnbc. if you read only one thing this morning, i find it really interesting and often surprising the topics that get people all riled up. for example, if you've turned on a tv or read an entertainment magazine, chances are you know that nbc tomorrow night is doing a live version of the much-beloved "sound of music." and boy, are people opinionated about, a, the remake and, b, carrie underwood versus julie andrews. so if your brain is hurting from all the obama care talk, take a break, check out my must read. it's up on our facebook page. and whether you love it or hate it, here's what some people are saying. carrie underwood can sing. she has a beautiful voice and that's all that matters.

but then we have another person who says, well, we don't have it up there but i read it and what it said on my script was stop remaking everything. what would hollywood do then? let us know what you think, head to facebook/jansingco. we'll be right back. [ female announcer ] let betty do the measuring and get a head start on delicious homemade cookies. visit bettycrockercookies.com for fun holiday ideas. betty crocker cookie mix. just pour, mix...love. betty crocker cookie mix. [ female announcer ] some people like to pretend a flood could never happen to them. and that their homeowners insurance protects them. [ thunder crashes ] it doesn't. stop pretending. only flood insurance covers floods. ♪ visit floodsmart.gov/pretend to learn your risk.

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country. the pew center says 34 state pensions are not fully funded, covering less than 80% of retiree pension and health benefits and other bankrupt cities are struggling to get solvent. this ruling could be an opening. i want to bring in lee saunders, president of the american federation of state, county and municipal employees representing 1.6 million members. for those members, lee saunders, what does this ruling mean? >> well, it's a dark day for detroit, it's a dark day for working families, it's a dark day for the retirees who have really worked for 30, 35 years, given their lives to public service yet they have a huge bull's-eye on their back based upon this ruling by the court. on average, our members on this average earn $19,000 a year, their pension benefits are $19,000, yet they are standing in the front of the line where they're going to get cut. those benefits will be reduced. we think that's unfair, immoral, and we're going to continue to fight legally. we're appealing the decision

yesterday. but we're going to continue to educate the community in detroit and across michigan and across this country. you don't attack workers who have given their lives to public service at the expense of their pensions. i mean they earned their pensions. as you heard the gentleman say, those pensions were earned by them when they were working and they deserve to retire with dignity and respect. >> and you can't listen to those stories, and i heard a lot of them, i read a lot of them today, they're understandably panicked. they don't know if they're facing a 5% cut, a 50% cut, but here's the argument on the other side. for example, vallejo, california, tried to get back on track without touching pensions and couldn't do it. in some cases cities have had to reduce services, things like police in order to pay retirees. so the question is can these cities which are in so much trouble, can they get out of the hole and still protect pensions? >> well, look, nobody is saying that urban areas and cities

across the country are not experiencing fiscal difficulty, they are. but we've got to be creative and we've got to think outside the box as far as how we resolve those kinds of problems. you don't resolve those problems by forcing retirees to give up more in pensions. you might want to resolve those problems by having corporations, having companies pay their fair share and not continue to give huge tax breaks equaling billions of dollars in cities and states across this country. it's all about priorities and that's what we've got to continue to educate and mobilize the public about. it's about priorities. governor snyder, and i believe this has been his plan from the beginning, he is the chief executive officer of the state of michigan. he's the governor. pensions are covered in the constitution, in the state constitution. he could have easily said we've got a problem in detroit. but we cannot hurt the most

vulnerable. we cannot attack the most vulnerable. let's take pensions off the table. let's take a look at how taxes are being paid. let's look at what corporations are paying. let's maybe take a look at us cutting taxes rather than increasing taxes for those who can afford it. he didn't do that. he attacked the most vulnerable in that city and that's wrong. morally it's wrong and we believe legally it's wrong and that's why we're appealing the decision. >> beyond that, obviously, and we talked about this, detroit could be just the tip of the iceberg. yesterday, for example, illinois lawmakers passed a measure to cut pension costs, including raising the retirement age. what do you see as the big picture fight here? what do you see as the impact of this decision for public retirees and workers today? >> well, i think that it will spread. i'm not convinced that you'll have a lot of cities filing for bankruptcy, but i am convinced that you will have actions taken by state legislators and governors and mayors around the country to take the easy way out

and to attack workers, to attack retirees rather than looking at the overall picture and understanding and making the statement that in these tough economic times, everyone must sacrifice. not a certain segment of our population. those who played by the rules every single day, are trying to put bread on the table, keep their mortgages, keep their homes, they should not be punished. again, i want to stress to you, chris, that this -- these retirees in detroit average $19,000 a year. they're living by each check, if they get it every two weeks or every month. they can't afford to do anything else. they cannot restructure their debt as wall street banks can, as these corporations can, and it's completely unfair and it's immoral to attack these retirees and workers. >> lee saunders, thank you so much. as always, it's good to see you. >> good seeing you. i also want to bring in rochelle riley, a columnist for

the detroit frees press. nathan bomie is a business reporter for the "free press." good morning to both of you. you spoke with the widow of a detroit firefighter who was killed in the line of duty five years ago. she and her six children rely on her husband's $2500 a month pension. here's what she said. >> for us not to be eligible to receive his pension benefits, which he definitely worked for and gave the ultimate sacrifice, it's a slap in the face, you know. i don't think that anybody should have to go through that. they shouldn't change the game at the end. >> rochelle, i know you've been talking to a lot of these folks who are going to be directly impacted by this. what are they telling you? >> well, first and foremost, they're scared to death. as lee saunders said, we're not talking about people who are living high on the hog. these are people who are living from paycheck to paycheck trying to decide between food and medicine. in some cases you've got widows of firefighters and police officers like syrie harris there

who are frightened and confused. >> part of that confusion, nathan, obviously public pensions were once thought to be untouchable and if you loved in michigan, you thought you were protected under state law. and they don't know right now, right, just how steep these cuts could be? >> yeah, the michigan constitution does protect public pensions as a contractual obligation, but judge steven rhodes yesterday said that federal bankruptcy law will preempt the michigan constitution and allow those contracts to be cut. now, detroit emergency manager has not said how much pensions will be cut but he has said it has to be done to balance the books. his argument is there's not enough money to go around, so we have to have sacrifices. the question is will it be a significant sacrifice and will the bondholders share in that sacrifice? how will the city's contractors share? that remains to be seen. >> rochelle, detroit's problems have been well documented since the decision was made to file for bankruptcy. police response times nearly an hour, although the police chief does say they're much better.

40% of all streetlights don't work. 78,000 buildings are abandoned. i mean is there any sense that all this pain that has been gone through as a result of this bankruptcy could in the end reap some good benefits? >> well, i spoke with a foundation head last night who said that there is nothing else that can happen to detroit. we can only go up from here. and i think there is a sense among people that that is what's going to happen. there is time to do some out of the box thinking, to have corporations to pay taxes to the city instead of to a development authority. there's been a whole discussion about selling art from the city's museum while it is run by a private entity, that art belongs to the city of detroit, they're assets, billions of dollars. so there will be lots of fights and lots of controversy and discussions for the next six months. >> and we did hear, nathan, lee saunders say they're already appealing this decision. what's the next step in this bankruptcy process?

>> yeah, the appeals can go on but the bankruptcy goes on too so the auto peels won't stop the case from going forward. the emergency manager will have a plan of adjustment. their goal is by september of next year to exit bankruptcy but we expect the creditors, especially the unions and bondholders to fight it aggressively and try to force concessions. >> we're going to continue to follow this closely. thank you so much for being with us. >> thanks. checking the news feed this morning, a tragic accident in the skies over arizona. two skydivers died after crashing into each other midair while their parachutes were open. police say the impact caused the parachutes to collapse and they plummeted about 200 feet to the ground. a third skydiver was hurt, but not seriously. two court cases we want to update you on. 14-year-old philip chisom toda

massachusetts court for the murder of his teacher. he's also charged with rape and armed robbery. in los angeles, an initial court appearance for the man accused of opening fire at l.a.x. last month. police shot him, who was too injured to be in court until now. it's prince harry in the lead as three teams of wounded soldiers from the u.s., u.k. and commonwealth are racing to the south pole for charity. it's a 174-mile trek in temperatures hitting 30 below. it should take about 13 days. prince harry isn't the only select. alexander scarsguard is racing for team usa, that team in second and dominic west from "the wire" is in for the commonwealth. now might be a good time to lock in a mortgage, because rates are rising. cnbc's jackie deangeles is here with what's moving your money. good morning, what's going on? >> good morning, chris. the same way it's difficult to predict the top or the bottom with the stock market, it's kind of the same way with mortgage rates as well. you're never going to get it

exactly right. but there are experts out there right now that are saying at this point a drop in rates seems unlikely. the average rate for a 30-year fixed loan right now, about 4.5%. that's up from 3.4% a year ago. so why might these rates creep up a little bit more? it's due in part to some recent positive data on the economy and also there's a flurry of data coming out this week. just this morning, october new home sales, the strongest that we've seen in more than 33 years. but keep in mind, 4.5%, still relatively low. the experts are saying you haven't missed the boat if you still want to buy a home. billy joel has signed a deal, kind of a vegas-style deal but in new york city with msg. >> that's right. i scrambled to get tickets for his february show at the garden but now it turns out he's going to be playing there once a month for as long as the die hard fans will have him. billy joel planning to bring back some of the old favorites but incorporating some of the more obscure tracks to give these shows a little edge. he'll be doing this on a monthly basis, those gigs at the garden,

including a show on may 9th, his 65th birthday. if you can't wait, he's on the barclays center on new year's eve as well. >> jackie deangeles, thank you. an exhaustive study of phone call conversations has led to a dubious distinction. the citizens of which states have the worst potty mouths? well, on the swear-o-meter, illinois is fifth worst, louisiana is fourth, new jersey comes in third, the runner up is maryland and i can't believe this, number one, my home state of ohio, several people have suggested to me that it makes sense given the record of our sports teams. which states are the least likely to curse? log on to jansing.msnbc to find out. zies. [ grandma ] with new fedex one rate, i could fill a box and ship it for one flat rate. so i knit until it was full. you'd be crazy not to. is that nana? [ male announcer ] fedex one rate. simple, flat rate shipping with the reliability of fedex.

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to happen. the house judiciary committee looked at what republicans see as the president's failure to execute the nation's laws, saying he's not done his duty. here's their justification. >> you can insert whatever you want, benghazi, fast and furious, the irs targeting of advocacy groups, nsa overreach, if you'd like your health care, you can keep it. >> the president ordered anwar killed. >> the deepwater drilling ban. mr. holder's attempt to reform criminal justice by selectively enforcing our laws. the -- mr. obama's unilaterally ignoring immigration laws in many cases. >> let me bring in democratic strategist keith boykin and republican strategist, season d -- susan del percio. let me play a little more.

>> we also talked about the "i" word, impeachment, which again i don't think would get past the senate in the current climate. am i missing anything? >> maybe the implication there being, susan, that it would get through the house. what are they trying to accomplish? most of these members of congress, it's not like they're in some district where they're threatened. it's not going to happen. it's ridiculous from a legal perspective. so what are they doing? >> well, it's like 2007-2008 all over again. dennis kucinich, which could step in for that exotic member of congress that they refer to as a republican in today's story by dana milbank did the same exact thing. they had a list of 35 impeachable things they wanted to charge president obama with. the congress did sending it to the judiciary committee. here's what's important. nancy pelosi as speaker decided not to bring it forward because she knew there would be political ramifications. so we've seen this all before.

the question is what does john boehner do. hopefully he will have the same political sanity not to take this any further. >> what do you see as going on here, keith. >> i think the difference between what happened before is this is widespread among the republican party. at least among the base of the republican party, the tea party ranks. yes, ike the people higher up like john boehner are smart enough not to go for this. but you have a congress so unproductive. they haven't done anything about a jobs bill, immigration, a farm bill, the employment nondiscrimination act, they have done virtually nothing and have seven days of work in the next month they're going to be in session? this is why the american public sees them so negatively because they are obsessed wi eed with h obama and not doing their jobs. regardless of what the politics are, people expect you to do that. >> and based on 9% approval rating of congress, they should all be impeached for crying out loud. >> you mentioned dana milbank's column and he writes they have

failed to cut off funding, difficulty suing obama in court, lost the 2012 election. that basically leaves them with the option of making loud but ineffectual noises about high crimes and misdemeanors. do they not care, though? i'm serious about that. do they not care about that 9% approval rating? do they not care that americans are sitting at home and saying why am i paying these people? >> unfortunately some of those people don't care, and that's the problem of the they have been -- they have been the loudest voices and getting the most attention. however, there are a lot of responsible members of congress on both sides of the aisle, and they really need to start tampering down this rhetoric and not going out and supporting it because they want a little more press from the right wing, if you will. >> and i guess the question becomes, keith, can they do that? because when you hear something like the hearing yesterday, if you're sitting at home watching c-span and you hear it go on and on and on, you know, it tells you something about what the chances are of getting anything done in the remaining less than two weeks now of this congressional session, not to mention going into next year. >> well, we're talking about a

congress that's passed 55 bills this year as opposed to 395, which was the norm back in the 1940s and '50s. >> to which a lot of republicans will say that's why i came here, to make sure that government stopped legislating. >> in which case why are you in congress? maybe you should have another job if your job is to not make congress work. this is a bad induststrategy fo gop. even talking about impeaching president obama, the first african-american president, is a horrible idea coming a week after they have this tweet about rosa parks ending racism and after mitt romney last year was going on about self-deporting for illegal immigrants. this is a conversation that is going to be detrimental to republicans and they need to focus on a positive agenda. what is it they want to do. you can't vote 42 times to repeal obama care and think that is a policy. you have to have some futuristic

ideas. >> as a republican that's where i want to see my party going. if you're going to talk about appealing obama care, what are you going to replace it with? so far as a party we haven't done that. >> great to have you both here. well, it may be a balmy 50 degrees for the rockefeller center christmas tree lighting here in new york tonight but don't tell that to the people in the west and midwest. they are getting hammered by an arctic blast and the third winter storm already this season. some areas of colorado will see as much as two feet of snow. check this out. and it's not just the snow, it's bitterly cold temperatures. the mercury plummeting as much as 40 degrees below normal in some areas. is fingerood. so i can't afford to have germy surfaces. but after one day's use, dishcloths can redeposit millions of germs. so ditch your dishcloth and switch to a fresh sheet of bounty duratowel. look! a fresh sheet of bounty duratowel leaves this surface cleaner than a germy dishcloth, as this black light reveals. it's durable, cloth-like and it's 3 times cleaner.

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to "politics now" where the cheney family feud is being fueled by dad. last night dick cheney said he was surprised his daughters took their argument over same-sex marriage to social media. liz cheney said she does not support same-sex marriage.

her sister mary, and mary's wife shot back that liz has told them she supports their relationship. the pentagon has just appointed the highest ranking woman in history and you might be familiar with her backstory. christine fox has been named acting deputy defense secretary. she was the inspiration behind this character. >> the mid-28 does have a problem with its inverted flight tanks. it won't do a negative g pushover. >> we happened to see a mig 28 do a 4g negative dive. >> where did you see this? >> that's classified. >> it's what? >> that's kelly mcgillis in "top gun" in the mid-'80s. fox worked with naval aviators. her call sign in 1985, no sexism there, it was legs. 'tis the season at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. the white house tweeted this pick of volunteers decorating for the holidays. the first lady will welcome military families for the first

look at this year's bedecking this afternoon. that wraps up this hour of "jansing & co." i'm chris jansing. thomas roberts is up next. a little underused word, bedecking. have you bedecked your apartment yet? >> no. we have -- yeah. >> that's it? >> yeah. i was trying to think of something good to play off of the bedecking thing. >> but all of it was bad? >> yes. >> moving on. >> moving on. thanks so much, chris. president obama's media blitz continues next hour with a speech on how obama care fits into his overall economic vision for the next three years. we'll also talk about bernie sanders about the democratic strike team the white house has gathered together to sell the aca. how does the white house get those young swiinvincibles to s up for health care? and the offensive rna mistweet with civil rights icon rosa parks declaring that she helped end racism. even though the rnc clarified

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♪ pillsbury cookie dough. make the holidays pop! so you're looking right now at the inside the center for american progress for washington, d.c., this is where any minute president obama will be back on the bully pulpit as he tries to reset the script on his signature legislation and his second term as well. hi, everybody, good morning. i'm thomas roberts. this developing news tops the agenda today. multi tasker in chief. as i said, in just a few minutes the president will deliver that speech that will be a two-fer. his remarks about income inequality and how his health care reform can help close the gap. day two of the white house to regain control of the rocky rollout of the affordable care act. yesterday he fended off the gop attacks. >> the bottom line is this law is working and will work into the future. we're going to keep on